Day 19 – June 5: Missoula rest day

Sometimes you don’t realize how tired you were until you take a nap. That happened yesterday on my zero mileage rest day. I took an afternoon nap.

The big priorities of the day were bike shop and rest and relaxation. I needed new brakes at the very least. New tires wouldn’t be the worst idea ever. So I went over to the Missoula Bicycle Works. I talked with then and we decided that while I couldn’t put 28cm tires on they did have a nice set of 25 ( what I’m currently running). I got to leave my bike with them for a few hours and went searching.

I found myself a pawnshop. And there was a ukulele there. I picked it up. Now I have a new friend with me for this trip. They also had a guitaralele (small guitar) but it was like 134 bucks. I got the uke for 17. I think it’s a winner. Now I get to play a little during my long lunch breaks when I’m alone.

Took a nap. Read a little. Got my bike back. I decided to go see Wonder Woman at a matinee. It was great! Then I met up with Eric and Garrett in town for dinner.

Garrett had hitched into town after he had 3 different tube failures the same day on the road. Luckily his knee is feeling better as well. But man he’s had some weird/bad luck lately. We are way too much food and had a good time.

Heading back out tomorrow. West Yellowstone will be the next major stop before entering Wyoming and spending a few days in the Yellowstone park. Hopefully I’ll get to run into an old AT hiker friend who works there but we shall see. Overall it’s been a pretty good time the last 3 weeks. I’m going to go get my picture taken at the headquarters and weigh my bike. I’ll get to ascend to over seven thousand feet in the next few days. And overall I’m feeling good.

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6 Replies to “Day 19 – June 5: Missoula rest day”

Ukulele! “Music is the universal language of mankind.”
–Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Bike shop looked huge. Glad you had a chance to get some supplies there. And right next to the historic Roxy Theater. Rock on and roll on.

a uke, very cool! i’ll dust off mine so we can play together when you get back. (sure hope you’re better than i am!)
“Everyone I know who is into ukulele is crackers, so get yourself a few and enjoy yourselves.” – George Harrison

I just stumbled across your diary, seems we’re leaving some parallel smoke signals in our lives! I was on the AT in ’13 (I just compared some of our dates, looks like I was about a month ahead of your schedule the whole time but I got off in Troutdale, VA and never got back on). And I’m heading out on the TransAm in about a month! I doubt we’ll actually catch each other this year but I’ll enjoy reading your scouting report about what I’m headed for.